Heart of the Plains League rejects Medicine Lodge

Medicine Lodge has lost its effort to join the Heart of the Plains League at least for now.

In a unanimous vote, the league voted against admitting Medicine, said Skyline High School Principal Herb McPherson during the Skyline Board of Education meeting Monday night.

A chief argument against admitting Medicine was the long distances some of the schools would have to travel for league play, McPherson said.

Medicine Lodge will now actively appeal to the Kansas State High School Activities Association for placement in a league. When a district appeals to KSHSAA they have no control and have to abide by their ruling, said Mike Sanders, Skyline Superintendent.

It is possible that KSHSAA will put them in HOPL anyway. Geographically it would make sense, Sanders said.

Medicine Lodge could also choose to look at other districts rather than go with a KSHSAA ruling.

While a KSHSAA decision will affect two districts, a Shawnee County District Court decision will impact every district in the state.

The District Court has upheld the lawsuit the Schools for Fair Funding brought against the Kansas Legislature in an effort to get adequate funding for Kansas' schools.

"The ruling is a slam dunk win for the kids in the state of Kansas," Sanders said. "The court wasn't waffling when they made the decision."

The suit said the Kansas Legislature was not funding education as is required in the state constitution. The Shawnee County District Court agreed with the over 50 schools involved with the Schools for Fair Funding lawsuit, including Skyline, and found several areas where the Legislature fell short.

Among the findings in the lawsuit: the Kansas school finance scheme is unconstitutional; the capital outlay statute is unconstitutional; the Local Option Budget creates a gap between poor and rich districts; the lawsuit would raise the base state aid per pupil from $3,838 to $4,492; reinstate the inflation adjustment; compensate districts for new costs from "Waiver" or "Common Core Standards."

Legislative studies have found that more funding gets better student results. If the ruling holds it will provide that additional funding needed for Kansas students, Sanders said.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said he would appeal the ruling to the Kansas Supreme Court. It would probably take about a year for a final decision to be handed down.

The Board approved early retirement for Ruth Ann Barker who has taught at Skyline for 35 years, the resignation of Lynette Freeman as bus driver and approved Tom Garland as her replacement.

The Board recognized eighth grader Justin Hampel for winning the geography bee, sixth grader Addie Hampton for her winning sixth grade entry on the "Kansas, Don't Spoil It" calendar and second grader Brett Atteberry for his runner up entry.